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Rally queens can’t be denied

October 17, 2024 by David Svien

The Wolves institute a no-fly zone at the net. (Ana Oliveira photo)

Slow start, torrid finish.

The Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad stumbled out of the gate a bit Thursday night, then reached down deep inside and found its missing mojo.

Roaring back to life with a strong team-wide effort, the Wolves rallied to topple visiting La Conner 20-25, 25-17, 15-11 to the delight of their exuberant fan base.

The win gives Ashley Menges’ crew a season sweep of the Braves, while lifting them to 7-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 8-1 overall.

Next up for the JV is a trip to Bellingham Saturday, where the Wolves will take part in a tourney hosted by Meridian.

Thursday’s tangle with La Conner started off in favor of the visitors, as the Braves peppered the Wolves en route to building a solid first-set lead.

But even trailing 21-13, the Wolves showed some serious fight, battling back to make things interesting.

Lexis Drake ripped off one of her team-high five service aces to light a bit of a fire under CMS, and Dakota Eck and Capri Anter started to take control at the net.

With team sparkplug Haylee Armstrong collecting a series of floor burns while sliding across the hardwood in pursuit of wayward balls, Coupeville closed the set on a 7-4 run.

While they couldn’t quite catch the Braves, it was a positive sign of things to come, as the hometown spikers claimed control of the match early in the second set.

Flexin’ on the world. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Ari Cunningham, filling up the stat sheet and the highlight reel, was everywhere, firing off aces and shooting winners that caught the very top of the net and flopped over for Wolf points.

Up 20-9 at one point, Coupeville ran away with the set, getting a huge tip winner from Strong to knot things at a set apiece.

With the match hanging in the balance, the two teams raced to 15 points in set three, with five ties, the last coming at 7-7.

Strong, bounding into the air, dropped a floater between several Braves to push Coupeville ahead for good, while Isa Mc Fetridge and Drake backed her up with solid winners while patrolling the net.

 

Thursday stats:

Capri Anter — 6 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace
Haylee Armstrong — 1 kill, 13 digs
Ari Cunningham — 2 kills, 8 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces
Lexis Drake — 3 kills, 5 digs, 5 aces
Adeline Maynes — 4 digs, 10 assists, 3 aces
Isa Mc Fetridge — 2 kills, 1 ace
Chelsi Stevens — 1 kill
Dakota Strong — 4 kills, 1 dig
Sydney Van Dyke — 2 digs

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One path complete, another opens

October 17, 2024 by David Svien

Jeann Nitta and CHS cross country are headed down the backstretch of the season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was a nice little tune-up.

With the start of the postseason just around the corner, the Coupeville High School cross country squad ambled off to Bellingham Thursday for the Lake Lap Invite.

The 2.6-mile course at Lake Padden attracted 295 runners overall, with 23 of them wearing the red and black.

Coupeville held up well against a large number of foes, claiming 5th in the team standings for the boys’ JV race, 6th in the varsity boys’, and 7th in the girls’ race, which combined varsity and JV.

Meridian, perhaps benefitting from a hometown advantage, swept all three team titles.

With the Northwest 2B/1B League Championships set for next Thursday, Oct. 24 in Mount Vernon, the Wolves will kick off their postseason journey.

After league comes Tri-Districts at Ft. Steilacoom Oct. 30 and (hopefully) the state meet Nov. 9 in Pasco.

As her harriers make the turn and head down the back stretch, CHS coach Elizabeth Bitting hailed them for their efforts.

“They’ve all worked so hard this past season,” she said. “I am so proud of them all.”

Mikayla Wagner zooms for the finish line. (Laura Callahan photo)

 

Thursday results:

 

GIRLS:

Mikayla Wagner (22nd) 18:56.40
Devon Wyman (28th) 19:31.56
Aleksia Jump (34th) 19:47.72
Aleera Kent (42nd) 20:13.60
Ivy Rudat (46th) 20:26.10
Ari Armstrong (58th) 21:02.58
Reagan Callahan (66th) 22:04.69
Jeann Nitta (74th) 22:45.42
Ava Lucero (81st) 23:38.92
Dahlia Miller (87th) 26:25.61
Mary Western (91st) 27:25.68

 

BOYS:

Varsity:

Kenneth Jacobsen (28th) 14:51.28
Ezekiel Allen (33rd) 15:00.96
Landon Roberts (36th) 15:07.80
Carson Field (40th) 15:14.80
Thomas Strelow (52nd) 15:38.70
George Spear (70th) 16:06.56

 

JV:

Isaiah Allen (4th) 16:01.24
Ethan Walling (13th) 16:31.39
Beckett Green (14th) 16:32.79
Johnathan Jacobsen (88th) 19:48.53
Will Tierney (95th) 20:23.03
Zach Blitch (106th) 24:53.64

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Final run, last pics

October 17, 2024 by David Svien

A fleet-footed Wolf runner heads for the finish line. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

They beat the raindrops one last time.

Running in the season finale Wednesday at the Cascade League Championships, Coupeville Middle School cross country harriers stayed one step ahead of the incoming bad weather.

As they did so, piling up top times, some of the young Wolves were captured on film by wandering photographer John Fisken, as seen in the pics above and below.

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“The kids are much more competitive!”

October 17, 2024 by David Svien

Wolf coach Cris Matochi was a busy man Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was a long day, and they’ll do it all again in less than 24 hours.

Playing the first of back-to-back road trips Wednesday, the Coupeville Middle School volleyball squads held their own against feisty Sultan.

Jump forward to Thursday, and the bus wheels will be turning once again, with the Wolves headed off to Granite Falls as the end of the season approaches.

The finale arrives Monday, Oct. 21, when CMS hosts South Whidbey in a clash of next-door neighbors.

How Wednesday unfolded:

 

Level 1:

A loss, but an extremely close one which hinged on a play or two and a ref’s somewhat questionable interpretation of the rules at a key moment.

Sultan escaped with a 25-17, 25-23, 11-15 victory, aided by the official ruling in favor of the hometown Turks on a disputed substitution at 23-23 in the middle set.

That doesn’t take away from the Wolves ability to rally, as CMS nearly closed the gap in the opening set after falling behind by 10 points early.

Set two was a fierce back-and-forth affair, with Coupeville requesting a sub with things knotted late.

While the Wolves tried to swap players, Sultan jumped the gun and served for the go-ahead point, before fast-talking the ref into ruling in their favor.

Instead of stewing, the Wolves rebounded to take the third set, putting a nice punctuation point on the day, coach Cris Matochi said.

“Although we didn’t win that match, that tie break felt like the Olympics – it felt soooo good!” he said.

“And if the players had a chance to replay that match, we had the energy of an entire army!”

 

Level 2 and 3:

With fellow coach Kristina Hooks having the day off so she could welcome her Navy husband home from deployment, Matochi guided all three Wolf squads into Turk territory.

What he saw from the second two units brought a smile to his face.

“This was by far the best that teams two and three have played so far,” Matochi said.

“They were doing so much better with moving their feet to the ball, and some players were able to serve overhand for the first time!”

Level two lost 25-17, 25-12, 15-7, while Level three fell 25-12, 25-21, 15-9, but Matochi is a firm believer that solid improvement often means more than the won/loss record.

“The kids are much more competitive, and it is exciting to see them fight hard,” he said. “We even got to see some players diving today!”

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Powers, Purdue shine at final meet

October 16, 2024 by David Svien

Anna Powers celebrates a strong final performance. (Amber Wyman photos)

They closed with a bang.

Reaching the end of the middle school cross country season Wednesday, Coupeville got third place performances from 7th graders Anna Powers and Henry Purdue at the Cascade League Championships.

Meet host South Whidbey earned both team titles at the seven-team event, with CMS nailing down third place in the boys’ competition and fourth in the girls.

Falcon 7th graders Adeline Stevens and Ash Kline claimed the individual crowns on the 3,000-meter course, with 180 runners competing.

Coupeville, which has steadily been building its numbers, sent 25 harriers to the line.

Henry Purdue (3rd) and Cyrus Sparacio (9th) landed in the top 10 in the boys race.

“It was a great end to the season!” said Wolf coach Amber Wyman.

“This really is an amazing group of athletes! They always push themselves to go the extra mile. Literally. They work hard and it shows when they race.”

While one season ends, Wyman is already looking forward to the future.

“I’m sad to see this season come to an end,” she said. “Especially since they just seem to be hitting their stride.

“I’m already looking forward to seeing what the returning athletes will do next season!”

 

Wednesday results:

 

GIRLS:

Anna Powers (3rd) 13:08.01
Claire Lachnit (17th) 14:48.26
Hazel Goldman (24th) 15:28.67
Allie Powers (37th) 15:59.96
Abby Hunt (42nd) 16:16.76
Hailey Goldman (54th) 17:28.96
Mia Goers (76th) 20:52.93
Sophia Magdolen (80th) 21:49.04

 

BOYS:

Henry Purdue (3rd) 11:28.16
Cyrus Sparacio (9th) 11:39.35
Colton Ashby (13th) 11:58.70
Calvin Kappes (14th) 12:15.18
Archer Schwarz (22nd) 12:35.79
Jonathan Kappes (24th) 12:37.65
Lincoln Wagner (25th) 12:38.02
Ossian Merkel (26th) 12:39.52
Christopher Zenz (30th) 13:05.96
Asher Harris (43rd) 13:53.26
Jonah Meek (47th) 14:06.17
Jesse Kehoe (49th) 14:14.61
Nolan Hunt (62nd) 15:17.15
Jonathyn Driscoll (70th) 16:12.21
Cole Van Dyke (71st) 16:24.59
Magnus Western (72nd) 16:26.33
Hunter Atteberry (73rd) 16:32.85

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